Hi and welcome back to the podcast this is Dr. Ellen Hendrickson and I'll help you

meet life's challenges with evidence-based research, a sympathetic ear, and zero judgment.

This week, on the savvy psychologist podcast, by request from listener Margaret Flannery from

Michigan, will outline four differences between nightmares and night terrors, and best of all, talk

about how to get rid of each so you can drift back to Dreamland.

Okay, so who hasn't woken up tangled in sheets, terrified from a nightmare?

Whether you're late for an exam, naked in public, or being chased by anything from a dinosaur to a scary clown,

we've all jolted awake, afraid of the monsters in our heads.

But while nightmares are stressful for the dreamer, night terrors are often more stressful for the observer.

We see our partner or child sit bolt upright in bed, scream and thrash around with a panicked look in his or her wide open eyes.

Eventually they'll drift back into peaceful sleep, but they don't remember any of it in the morning.

So while both nightmares and night terrors involve stress and

fear, there are some key differences. Here are four. Difference number one,

sleep stage. Okay so let's do a quick primer on sleep stages.

In 2007, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine updated the phases of sleep.

Since 1968, there had been four phases plus REM, the stage where dreaming occurs, but now phases three and four have been consolidated, leaving us with non-rem stage one, non-rem stage two, non-rem stage 3, which is also called slow wave sleep, and REM.

During REM sleep, the brain is as active as when it's awake, and while the jury is still out

on the exact function of REM sleep, we do know it's when dreams and those chased by a dinosaur nightmares take place.

Night terrors, on the other hand, occur during non-rem stage 3 or slow-wave sleep, which is thought to be important for

consolidating memories from the day.

During slow-wave sleep, the brain rests, as evidenced by less blood flow and a slower metabolic rate within the brain.

Also within each wave, a short period occurs where the neurons are pretty much silent,

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